The Batman 2 finally begins shooting in spring 2026, Warner Bros. has confirmed, while committing to a 2027 release.

Matt Reeves’ self-contained DC universe is called the ‘Batman Epic Crime Saga.’ This so far includes 2022’s The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, and HBO Max series The Penguin, which sees Colin Farrell reprise his role as Oz Cobb.

In a financial report, Warner Bros. confirmed The Batman 2 is “preparing to begin shooting next spring,” and reiterated the 2027 release window. The Batman II currently has an Oct 1, 2027 release date.

The Penguin is set one week after The Batman and leads into the events of the upcoming The Batman 2, whose script everyone and their dog (DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn included!) had been waiting on with a great deal of anticipation. That script is finally complete.

In the same financial report, Warner Bros. suggested The Penguin Season 2 is in the works (“The 10-year vision for the DC universe also includes an exciting array of television projects, including The Penguin…”). This comes despite Colin Farrell recently insisting Penguin Season 2 was not currently in the works. But in the same breath he pointed to The Batman 2 and even namechecked the so-far unannounced Batman 3, so perhaps he was just being coy.

Indeed, Reeves has said he set out to make a trilogy of Batman films, and as of last year that plan was still on, but given how long it’s taken to get The Batman 2 going (if it does come out in October 2027, it’ll arrive five-and-a-half years after The Batman), the idea of The Batman 3 following in a timely fashion feels tricky.

And then we have to take into consideration Gunn’s own plans for the DC Universe’s Batman. While promoting the rebooted DCU kickstarter Superman earlier this year, Gunn admitted: "Batman's my biggest issue in all of DC right now."

In February, Gunn and DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran confirmed The Brave and the Bold will introduce a new Batman into the DCU, ruling out Pattinson crossing the streams in the process. At the time, Safran and Gunn said Pattinson would play Batman in Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga only.

So what does the prospect of The Batman 2 in 2027 and The Batman 3 coming out after mean for the timing of The Brave and the Bold? Gunn faces the potentially confusing situation of having two actors playing Batman in movies across two different DC universes.

As of February, The Brave and the Bold was said to be in “very active development,” and the story was “coming together very nicely.” But is The Flash director Andy Muschietti still directing? Gunn and Safran are developing the script, and will show it to Muschietti "when we have it in a place where we think it's ready to go... and see if it's a fit for him," Safran said earlier this year. "I'm very, very actively involved in that script," Gunn said, also earlier this year.

Speaking more recently on Batman, Gunn said he’s not actually writing The Brave and the Bold, but is working with an unnamed writer to “get it right.”

“Batman’s my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally,” he said. “And it’s not — I’m not writing Batman, but I am working with the writer of Batman and trying to get it right, because he’s incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman.

“So outside of the stuff that I’m doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our Wonder Woman and our Batman scripts.”

Gunn then discussed in vague terms the kind of Batman he’s going for — or, perhaps it would be better to say the kind of Batman he's trying to avoid.

“Batman has to have a reason for existing, right? So Batman can’t just be, ‘Oh, we’re making a Batman movie because Batman’s the biggest character in all of Warner Bros.,’ which he is. But because there’s a need for him in the DCU and a need that he’s not exactly the same as Matt’s Batman.

“But yet he’s not a campy Batman. I’m not interested in that. I’m not interested in a funny, campy Batman, really. So we’re dealing with that. I think I have a way in, by the way. I think I really know what it’s — I just am dealing with the writer to make sure that we can make it a reality.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Following the launch of Superman, DC Universe steward James Gunn is now writing and preparing to direct the next chapter in the ‘Super Family,’ Warner Bros. has announced.

Confirmation comes from CEO David Zaslav in a financial call in which he said Superman marked “the beginning of a new era for DC Studios.”

But what is this mystery Superman follow-up? Gunn has spoken in the past about his next writer / director project for DC Studios, which sounds like it's sort of a Superman sequel, but isn't really.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Gunn confirmed he has already begun working on Superman's next DCU appearance, although he wouldn't go so far as to call it a sequel. "What I'm working on is in some way… I mean, yes, yes, yes, yes," was his response to Superman getting a follow-up movie. "But is it a straight-up Superman sequel? I would not say necessarily."

Here's what we know so far: in film, DC Studios has Supergirl and Clayface coming out in 2026, and the next Wonder Woman, which doesn't have a release window. The Batman II, from Matt Reeves’ self-contained the ‘Batman Epic Crime Saga.’ will begin shooting next spring, with a release date set for 2027. Gunn has also talked about a Sgt. Rock adaptation, and a Justice League teamup starring Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. In February, Gunn and co-DC Studios CEO Peter Safran confirmed The Brave and the Bold will introduce a new Batman into the DCU, ruling out current Batman actor Robert Pattinson in the process.

In TV, the Batman Epic Crime Saga looks set for The Penguin Season 2, with DCU entry Peacemaker Season 2 out soon and a Lanterns series due in 2026. Gunn is reportedly considering TV spinoffs for characters such as Mister Terrific and Jimmy Olsen following their well-received supporting roles in Superman.

"In a precise and measured way, the DC franchise will increasingly overlay across the studio’s broader efforts: from film and TV to consumer products, games, experiences and social," Warner Bros. said.

Superman now has a global box office take of $551.2 million after weekend four. Domestically, it added another $13.855 million last weekend, marking a strong hold of 44%, to hit $316.211 million. Gunn has offered his thoughts on why Superman is doing better business in North American theaters than internationally.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

LEGO fans still have time to lock in two of the most anticipated sets of the year. The nostalgic LEGO Icons Retro Game Boy is holding strong in preorder ahead of its August release, and the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Minifigures pack is also available now with a September 1 drop. Both are likely to sell out closer to launch, so if either is on your list, now’s the time to get ahead of the rush.

TL;DR: The Best Deals Today

Elsewhere, two gorgeous limited-edition vinyls celebrating A Charlie Brown Christmas are still up for preorder. You can choose between the spinning zoetrope picture disc or the new holographic foil sleeve version, both pressed for the 60th anniversary.

And if you’re looking for more great buys today, deals include a buy one get one free deal on the 100W Baseus portable charger for $49.99, the Amazon-exclusive TMNT Sewer Playset at $74.99, and a Hisense 65” Mini-LED Fire TV down to $499.99. Let's get into it.

A Charlie Brown Christmas 60th Anniversary Zoetrope

A Charlie Brown Christmas 60th Anniversary Holographic Foil Sleeve

Discounts on Magic: The Gathering Precons and More

Once again it's TCGPlayer and the secondary market values saving MTG players and collectors a small fortune over Amazon. Even sale pricing of the Fallout Commander Deck - Science! is $4 cheaper, with my favorite deal in this lineup being for the four pack bundle of Fallout Commander Decks.

Amazon works out at $47.07 per deck, with TCGPlayer massively undercutting here at $41.56. That's well over $10 saving per deck, with even more savings compared to Amazons single pricing overall.

Latest LEGO Preorders and Deals - Now Live

LEGO Game Boy is back up for preorder at Amazon after selling out on it's original allocation, so its a safe bet you'll miss out if you don't preorder.

I've also got three new preorders for LEGO Disney and Spider-Man alongside loads of great discounts on in-demand LEGO sets including Star Wars, Ninjago, Wednesday, Marvel and Disney. Discounts are running up to 37% off, so it's a really good time to pick up a new build.

Pokémon TCG Discounts at Amazon

Whilst there's a couple of savings on Amazon today, TCGplayer is knocking big box retailers out of the water. The White Flare binder box is a couple of dollars cheaper on Amazon, but looking at older sets like Destined Rivals show a clear gap in market value and the notorious Amazon mark ups of 2025.

Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box is currently sat at $85 on TCGplayer, for example, which is cheaper than the Amazon sale price last week of £88.

Shining Fates Sealed Price Check

Is the Shining Fates Pikachu V Box actually worth getting? Well it's $40 on TCGplayer right now, more than $10 cheaper than Amazon, so on that fact alone yes. For me it comes down to the Pikachu V promo and jumbo card, which are going for a collective $1.90 right now.

You can also grab a full art set of four Shining Fates boosters for $37.91, which means you can get the contents of the box for $39.81. All in all there's not much difference for those looking for everything, but if you're just looking for Shining Fates boosters, it's cheaper to just buy the full art set considering a single booster is $9.99 right now.

Shining / Hidden Fates - Best Chase Cards Today

Prices for Paldean Fates and Hidden Fates Pokémon cards have shifted again this week, with big winners like Mew ex jumping 76% to $389.45 thanks to its powerful ability and incredible SIR artwork. Gardevoir ex is up 51% to $78.99, and Charizard ex continues to climb, now at $160.

Older chase cards from Hidden Fates are also rising again, including Charizard GX (up 12%) and Umbreon GX (up 19%). On the flip side, cards like Pikachu and Charmander from Paldean Fates are down sharply, while shiny favorites like Glaceon GX, Eevee, and Moltres & Zapdos & Articuno GX have also dipped. The market’s clearly leaning toward high-impact Special Illustration Rares over lower-tier shinies this week.

Baseus Laptop Portable Charger 100W

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classic Sewer Playset

Hisense 65" Class QD7 Series Mini-LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV

Fallout Funko Pop Preorders

Dropping throughout December 2025, these Fallout Pop Vinyls focused on the Fallout TV series should drop around the same time as Season Two. There's also chances to get a random rare variant, which is about as much Funko hype as I can handle. I've preordered Vault Boy already, but I might get the whole lineup before preorders run dry.

Mini PC Deals

Mini PCs are great for a work from home setup, a bit of light gaming or just saving some space. Both of these models have decent specs whilst being good enough to run Minecraft and your day-to-day productivity apps. Plus they're dirt cheap, so there's nothing to loose.

Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

Since its debut, the Mafia series has steadily marched forward through the decades – the original is set in the 1930s, its sequel spans the ’40s and ’50s, and Mafia III unfolds during the late ’60s. If the next step was going to be the ’70s, or the ’80s – or both – I was certainly ready. Casino intrigue, shine boxes, borrowing huge kitchen knives from Martin Scorcese’s mother in the middle of the night – whatever it was, I was up for it. However, instead of moving closer to the end of the 20th century, Mafia: The Old Country takes us back to the beginning. And not just the beginning of the century, but to the formative era of the Mafia itself. Part mob drama and part Western, The Old Country may be a safe and conventional third-person action adventure on the surface, but it’s a moody and engaging one that makes great use of its uncommon setting and is brimming with old school atmosphere so heady you can practically smell the sun-dried tomatoes.

After experimenting with a more freeform open world structure in the divisive Mafia III, Mafia: The Old Country returns to the format of the original Mafia and Mafia II. That is, it’s linear and tightly story-driven, and the open world is largely just a vivid backdrop to move through between objectives, and during some missions. This has always worked well for the Mafia series, and The Old Country is no exception.

This approach gives The Old Country an effective sense of place and scale – immersing you in a rich and evocative Sicilian countryside – but without bloat. It’s a very detailed, varied, and convincing map, but there are no towers to scale or arbitrary icons to visit and clear. Your attention is simply required on the story, and the story alone. As a single-player sucker who inhales this kind of thing for its story, setting, and style, I was quickly hooked. If you’re the kind of person who might be tempted to use the Sicilian language option alongside subtitles in the language of your choice, you’re in the right place. If you’re the kind of person who pounds through cutscenes craving their next chance to slap the citizens of Steelport with a giant purple dildo, it’s possible the Mafia series may not be your speed.

Family Splatters

Beginning in 1904, The Old Country charts a chronicle in the life of young Sicilian Enzo Favara, who escapes a life of slavery in the region’s dangerous sulphur mines – run by the ruthless Spadaro crime family – to find himself working for their local adversaries, the Torrisi family. The story hits a lot of standard beats, and all the usual suspects are here. The fair and kindly mentor, and the loyal best friend with a habit of testing the patience of others around him. The stern and powerful Don and his cynical consigliere. The slimy and treacherous rival boss, and the forbidden love. There are some neat connections to the existing games in the series too, for fans who pay close attention.

So yes, it’s a fairly familiar and predictable 13-hour saga for anyone with a basic level of gangster movie literacy, but the writing is strong and the voice performances are stronger. The highlight is arguably Don Torrisi himself, whose English voice actor Johnny Santiago injects with a quiet, husky intensity that is as credibly intimidating as a man in his position would need to be. He stalks the screen as the kind of guy that men who kill for a living would actually take orders from.

Familiar too is the third-person action, as The Old Country plays like any typical cover shooter from the last decade or so. This was the case in 2020’s Mafia: Definitive Edition, and it’s the same again here, albeit with a wild west flavour thanks to the era-specific arsenal (like revolvers, repeaters, and various shotguns) and the fact that shootouts sometimes occur on horseback, and/or against fellas who look like they’ve just stumbled home off the set of a Sergio Leone picture after a full day of making Clint Eastwood look cool.

Even without engaging much with its rosary bead system of minor combat buffs (which I did regularly forget about), it’s not a massive challenge with the default, soft-locking aiming controls. However, I don’t play these sorts of games to be relentlessly punished. Some enemies will hunker down behind large objects and walls, and others will stoically stride towards you to be blown out of their boots. The AI isn’t always sharp (and it’s definitely a little janky to find yourself completely flanked but still have the time to stand up and clumsily blast a bloke who had you dead to rights at point blank range) but the shootouts are nonetheless serviceable.

The Old Country’s stealth doesn’t rewrite the rule book either, but it does strengthen the action overall. Stealth is sometimes required by the design of the mission at hand, but on other occasions it’s available as an option. There are a number of encounters throughout with environments that have been laid out for us to be able to sneak around and pick off all the enemies one by one, but also seamlessly pivot to hosting an out-and-out gunfight should you flub it and be spotted.

You can toss coins and bottles for distraction, but unfortunately only some bottles (that is, the ones arbitrarily marked). It’s always a bit of an immersion breaker when levels are decorated with inconsistent props. I’d vastly prefer to just be able to pick up any bottle. Failing that, just delete the bottles we can’t pick up during missions. Crucially, you can pick up and move bodies, and there are boxes to stash them in. The stealth is pretty standard, but with distractions and body hiding it does feel like a proper stealth system and not a tacked on afterthought.

Enzo can temporarily highlight nearby enemies in the environment, which is essentially a superpower that’s handwaved away as his impeccable instincts (it probably could’ve been more logically introduced during the underground intro as some kind of innate ability he honed after spending the bulk of his childhood in a dark sulfur mine, but no matter). At any rate, once you have a feel for where your enemies are and which way they’re headed, all that’s left is to sneak around, grab them, and either button-bash to strangle them or tap your knife attack to speed up the process. That said, I actually rarely used the latter. Not because I was feeling merciful, but because stabbing your victims costs you a block of “durability” off your knife (which needs to be sharpened with a whetstone if and when it “runs out” of… stabs). It’s not a gamebreaker, but I’m not really into the idea of not being able to stab a bloke simply because my knife is immediately no longer pointy enough to do so after slaying a few of his mates (and whetstones were a consumable I didn’t always have).

I mainly just strangled my enemies to avoid this issue, but it feels like a slightly unnecessary system – particularly when durability concerns disappear during The Old Country’s new one-on-one knife fights.

These knife fights are essentially boss encounters, presented as a one-on-one showdown with another man. They occur outside regular third-person action gameplay, and you’re locked into these battles until there’s a result (or your opponent is scripted to scarper). The attacks, parries, and dodges in knife fights are bespoke to this mode alone. They’re flashy and bloody, but a lot of the time I did just feel I was simply dodging and slashing my way to a cutscene, where a further complication or a switch in momentum will occur. Sometimes you’ll trigger an animation that makes you a passenger for a while, then Enzo’s health bar recharges while your enemy’s does not. I’m not sure what the thought was there. The knife fights look cool, and they’re not like anything in the series to date, but they do feel a little low stakes at times.

Red Dead Redenzione

As a linear adventure, The Old Country admittedly doesn’t share the same scope of Rockstar’s genre-defining Westerns – but it’s certainly adjacent to them in tone and atmosphere. There’s a certain undeniable swagger that comes with riding into town on horseback (and on the wrong side of the law), and The Old County captures this with similar effectiveness to the Red Dead series.

The early 1900s setting doesn’t just shine a spotlight on the early days of the Sicilian Mafia, it’s also a window back to the Edwardian era of automobiles – when cars began competing with horses as the primary method of transportation. Developer Hangar 13 has done an exceptional job in this department, especially with the sound.

These 120-year-old cars have primitive engines, whining chain drives, and open cabins with no sound deadening, and The Old Country has captured their raw and lumpy burbles immaculately. It definitely can’t be understated how much richness this adds to driving around the map. It’s not just engine sounds, either. When a gramophone is brought on a drunken car trip, be sure to listen as it misbehaves when you bounce around off road. There’s a lot of consideration here, and I respect that.

Yes, there’s a race mission – but it’s not been shoehorned in here to taunt those who are still haunted by the infamously tricky racing event in the original Mafia. Sicily was the home of the Targa Florio – established in 1906 and one of the oldest motor racing events in the world – so it makes perfect sense in context.

The Old Country’s riff on this race is sadly all too brief – it’s over in less than seven minutes – but it is one of the most memorable and thrilling missions. It certainly made me wish Enzo could’ve cut ties with the Cosa Nostra and raced around Europe full time. I don’t know what’s more dangerous: betraying your oath to the family or trying to tame an aircraft engine that’s had four tyres and a steering wheel strapped to it.

On the topic of engines, however, it should be noted that The Old Country shifts the Mafia series off its previous proprietary one and onto Unreal Engine 5. From my perspective, the impact isn’t a dramatically profound one – 2020’s Mafia: Definitive Edition remains a handsome looking game, and so is The Old Country. What I can say is that I haven’t experienced any of the minor bugs that occurred during my first playthrough of Mafia: Definitive Edition, and that I haven’t had to restart checkpoints to overcome unexpected jankiness (or fallen through the map) – at least on PC, as we weren’t provided access to the console versions ahead of launch, so we’ll have to wait and see how those run. But outside of the occasional framerate flutter and some light pop-in, my time with The Old Country has been quite robust.

Although, perhaps not quite as robust as the incredible array of food and produce on display throughout. Games rarely make me this hungry. A game may have never made me this hungry. I’m craving cannolis and cake. I’m wading through arancini ball recipes. I’m considering a vegetable garden to grow tomato varieties I can’t find.

I’ve officially turned into my dad, and The Old Country is the game that did it.

Sony has reflected on its progress transforming PlayStation into a company that runs a suite of successful live-service games — something that has, so far, returned mixed results.

Cast your mind back to February 2022, during the halcyon days of PlayStation's former boss Jim Ryan, when the company said it would launch more than 10 new live-service games before March 2026.

Fast forward to now and, well, it's clear things haven't quite gone to plan. And now, speaking via an English interpreter during Sony's latest financial results briefing, the company's chief financial officer Lin Tao has seemingly agreed (thanks, ThisWeekInVideoGames).

"Last year, Concord," Tao began, mentioning the Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired live-service shooter Sony launched after eight years of development, then binned alongside developer Firewalk Studios within weeks of its failure. "And this year, Marathon was postponed. Somewhat negative news has been coming out, but if you look five years ago, live-service games were almost non-existent for PlayStation Studios.

"We have Helldivers 2, MLB, [Gran Turismo 7] and Bungie's Destiny 2," Tao continued. "So we have these four live services contributing to sales and profit in a stable manner... In terms of the transformation, it's not entirely going smoothly, but from a longer-term perspective, if you look at the changes over five years, you see that there has definitely been change."

Still, questions remain over Sony's future live-service prospects, such as Bungie's delayed Marathon and also heist shooter Fairgame$, the debut project from Haven Studios of which we've heard nothing for some time.

Founded in 2021 and acquired by Sony a year later, Haven had been helmed by Assassin's Creed producer and games industry veteran Jade Raymond — until her exit from the company back in May. Little has been seen of what Haven has been developing for the past four years, and now Fairgame$ has reportedly been delayed until at least 2026.

Discussing the status of Marathon specifically, Tao said Sony still expects the game to launch before April 2026, during the current financial year, but cautioned that this was "not a commitment."

"Based on the progress [made] in the autumn timeframe, we believe we can communicate when we will be launching," Tao said. "We are now fixing the problems. So we believe this launch will happen. If this launch is cancelled, we need to do a revision of the valuation. However, as of now, this is not expected."

Notably, Tao mentioned that Sony was in the process of gaining a much tighter grip on developer Bungie, after previously offering it "a very independent environment." This tallies with past comments from a former Bungie lawyer, who stated that Sony was now "forcing" the studio to "get their heads out their asses" and run Destiny 2 like a proper business — something he said was actually a good thing.

"This type of independence is getting lighter," Tao said. "So Bungie is shifting into a role which is becoming more part of PlayStation Studios. In the long term, you can see this as an ongoing process, so the direction is to become part of PlayStation Studios."

Behind the scenes, Sony has recently cancelled a slew of projects that never made it into the public eye. These include a live-service God of War title in development at Bluepoint, and another live-service title being made by Days Gone developer Bend. Firesprite previously ditched a live-service Twisted Metal project, while Insomniac was known to have worked on a live-service co-op Spider-Man game titled The Great Web. Most high profile of all, though, was Naughty Dog's live-service The Last of Us multiplayer effort, which the studio also ultimately ditched after years of work.

In the meantime, recent PlayStation events have focused more squarely on the company's upcoming slate of single-player blockbusters, such as the highly-anticipated Ghost of Yōtei and Naughty Dog's sci-fi game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

Speaking earlier this year, former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida said he would have tried to resist Sony’s controversial live service video game push — and mulled that "maybe that's one of the reasons they removed me from the first-party!"

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Hollywood director James Cameron has once again issued a warning about AI gaining control over weapons systems, pointing to the potential for a “Terminator-style apocalypse.”

Cameron, creator of the Avatar and Terminator franchises, has spoken about the dangers of putting weapons of mass destruction in the hands of AI multiple times in the past. 1984’s The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cybernetic assassin sent back in time to assassinate the mother of the future savior of mankind, revolves around a post-apocalyptic future caused by a nuclear attack from a hostile artificial intelligence.

Speaking to Rolling Stone about his upcoming adaptation of the new book Ghosts of Hiroshima, Cameron pointed to The Terminator’s fictional future as potentially becoming a reality.

“Look, I mean, I do think there’s still a danger of a Terminator-style apocalypse where you put AI together with weapons systems, even up to the level of nuclear weapon systems, nuclear defense counterstrike, all that stuff,” he said.

“Because the theater of operations is so rapid, the decision windows are so fast, it would take a superintelligence to be able to process it, and maybe we’ll be smart and keep a human in the loop. But humans are fallible, and there have been a lot of mistakes made that have put us right on the brink of international incidents that could have led to nuclear war.

“So I don’t know. I feel like we’re at this cusp in human development where you’ve got the three existential threats: climate and our overall degradation of the natural world, nuclear weapons, and superintelligence. They’re all sort of manifesting and peaking at the same time. Maybe the superintelligence is the answer. I don’t know. I’m not predicting that, but it might be.”

But is a Terminator-style apocalypse actually likely? A Wired article published this week revealed nuclear experts believe mixing AI and nuclear weapons is inevitable.

Elsewhere in the interview, Cameron revealed that “horrific” dreams he suffered that were informed by his knowledge of the environmental effects of the bombs described in Ghosts of Hiroshima, “became The Terminator.”

Cameron continued:

“When I was writing, imagining the story for Terminator 2, a song kept going through my head, which was Sting’s [Russians, where he sings] ‘I hope the Russians love their children, too.’ And my original title for that film was actually The Children’s Crusade. When Sarah sees the children in the playground incinerated, that was the core image for that film, and then she gets incinerated herself. So it was really about mothers, children. She was highly dehumanized at the beginning of that story. She finds her empathy, she breaks through that wall, and so I was dealing with all those themes back then. I can only hope that I’m just maybe a better, more experienced filmmaker now, and I can deal with this subject respectfully and correctly.”

This article contains spoilers for Wednesday Season 2… and Season 1, for that matter.

There are a few givens when you’re dealing with the Addams Family. They’re creepy and they’re kooky, of course; they can also be mysterious and spooky. They’re altogether ooky, but through two seasons (or at least a season and a half), Netflix’s Wednesday has failed these basic assignments. While the show is a gargantuan hit for the streamer, it’s one that completely misunderstands the source material, and continues to do so from the cold open of Season 2 onwards.

Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the Jenna Ortega star vehicle is based on the Addams Family characters created by cartoonist Charles Addams and initially appearing in The New Yorker starting in 1938. They’ve appeared on TV before, in movies, on stage, and even on pinball machines. The grim, grotesque, and hilarious extended Addams Family are as iconic in their own ways as Spider-Man, Batman, and the rest, recognized the world over in all their black-clad forms.

Other than the physical trappings, however, the characters on Wednesday are mostly unrecognizable to fans of the cartoons and movies thanks to a general softening of the premise to turn it into your run-of-the-mill supernatural school/mystery series. Instead of inhabiting the Addams’ dilapidated mansion, Wednesday (Ortega) is sent to Nevermore Academy, ostensibly Hogwarts for magical monsters with significantly less financial support for transphobic billionaires. There, Wednesday should be less of a weirdo and outcast given that everyone is weirdos and outcasts. But she wears black and white as opposed to the school’s purple and black (still pretty ooky if you ask us), and insists at every turn that she’s a weirdo. She does not, like Riverdale’s Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), wear a hat, but that’s about the level of weird she is on the show, which is to say, not that weird.

A Family That Slays Together

The main conflict of the series, other than monsters attacking the school for monsters and a general X-Men-esque hatred of the students by the normies in town, is between Wednesday and her mother, Morticia Addams (Catherine Zeta-Jones), seemingly only because Wednesday is grossed out by her mom loving her dad, though it might also be construed as general teen rebellion.

This, by the way, is fine. Part of the point of adaptation is that things are different and not direct reproductions of what’s come before. Gough and Millar are creating a version of the Addams Family that isn’t the 1960s sitcom; this one is built for 2020s streaming, complete with serialized plots and a little thing called character growth. You can’t have a character like Wednesday not grow in some form on a Netflix prestige series in 2025. This Wednesday, however, is so different from her New Yorker beginnings, and in particular from the Wednesday that appeared in the faithfully-adapted, Barry Sonnenfeld-directed Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), that the show is missing the point entirely.

As quoted in The Addams Family: An Evilution, a 2010 curated collection of 200 Addams cartoons, the creator laid it out pretty simply:

“Gomez and Pugsley are enthusiastic,” Addams noted. “Morticia is even in disposition, muted, witty, sometimes deadly. Grandma Frump is foolishly good-natured. Wednesday is her mother's daughter. A closely-knit family, the real head being Morticia – although each of the others is a definite character – except for Grandma, who is easily led. Many of the troubles they have as a family are due to Grandma's fumbling, weak character. The house is a wreck, of course, but this is a house-proud family just the same, and every trap door is in good repair. Money is no problem.”

While Ortega’s performance as Wednesday is clearly influenced by Christina Ricci’s deadpan rendition in the Sonnenfeld movies, there is generally zero enthusiasm to be had from the character, who would rather “nope” out of every situation to work on her novel or play her cello. It’s only through the addition of psychic precognition powers and the, yes, enthusiasm of her roommate Enid (Emma Myers) that Netflix’s Wednesday is compelled to do anything. She certainly barely tortures Pugsley, something they both enjoy in every other iteration of the Addams saga, and without the house, there can be no “proud of the house” plotlines. In fact, given how scattered the Addams Family is in Wednesday, there’s not a lot of love shown between them, either.

That’s the big emotional hole at the center of Wednesday, which it attempts to fill with the ENTIRELY PLATONIC relationship between the EXTREMELY STRAIGHT AND HETEROSEXUAL Wednesday and Enid, who BOTH HAVE MULTIPLE ROMANTIC INTERESTS WHO ARE MEN, OKAY? As for the family, instead of showing how in the midst of being the biggest weirdos in town, enjoying murder and torture and watching things die, the Addams Family still loves each other deeply, we get them bristling as they try to spend time together, far more interested in the legacy of Nevermore Academy than the other Addamses.

The darkly baroque humor of the comics is subsumed in quips and quirks, the hard edges softened for a more modern and presumably teen audience, who frankly can take the darkness and deserves better. But by sanding the edges off the property, Gough and Millar remove what makes the Addams Family unique. They are supposed to be all edge for the outside world, barbs and thorns and spikes; to each other, though, they express nothing but love, not through softness but through those same barbs and thorns and spikes, which they also love. It’s that dichotomy that fuels the laugh-out-loud nature of the best of the Addamses throughout the past 87 years.

Misunderstood Monsters

Interestingly, it’s the same sort of criticism that Addams himself lobbed at the ‘60s sitcom.

“Charles was up-and-down on the television show. He certainly enjoyed what The Addams Family did for his earning power, but he said the characters were ‘half as evil,’” said Addams biographer Linda H. Davis in an interview. “To be honest, he didn’t even really watch it, because on Friday nights he was usually out to dinner or on a date.”

If the characters were half as evil on The Addams Family sitcom, they’re not even a quarter evil on Wednesday; they’re objectively good. Chaotic good, sure, but that’s a 180-degree turn from where they’ve been depicted before.

Take, for example, the cold open of Wednesday Season 2. In it, we catch up with the title character on her summer break, where she’s spent time tracking down a serial killer she was obsessed with in her youth. So far, so true to the Addamses. Even allowing herself to be captured and tied up by the killer (played by Haley Joel Osment) is consistent with Wednesday’s character the way it was set out all those years ago. But what happens next decidedly is not.

Instead of asking for tips from the killer – as we all know, Wednesday loves murder – she gives him up to the cops to face justice. Sure, she shaves a head before she hands him over, but even that’s because he used human hair from his victims to create dolls. It’s not dark, it’s not whimsical, and it’s not weird. It’s exactly the sort of thing you would see any other supernatural avenger do, and it’s the same thing that happens over and over throughout the second season of Wednesday, as the character barely begrudges doing the right thing and helping out her friends.

This misunderstanding gets passed to the other characters as well, most notably Fester (Fred Armisen), who strikes up a romance with a lunch lady halfway through Season 2, Part 1, and then leaves her by telling her that of all the women he’s romanced, she was his favorite. There’s no joke there, no dark turn, just…he really liked her. And while a tango included in Season 2 nods to the razor-hot romance Morticia and Gomez (Luis Guzmán) exhibit in other versions of the Addams Family story, the two are mostly apart.

Full of Woe

What’s particularly disappointing about all this is that Tim Burton, one of the main creatives behind Wednesday, should be a perfect fit for the material. Burton almost single-handedly invented a generation of Hot Topic Goths thanks to Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and more. And while a stop-motion sequence early in Season 2 finds that old Burton peeking through, his signature style is subsumed for the general blandness of the stores in the rest of the mall. Given that Burton was reportedly considered for the Sonnenfeld films, and Sonnenfeld was always considered to be chasing what Burton had, it’s wild that Sonnenfeld clearly got what the Addamses are about in a way that Burton and company have entirely missed. Heck, Burton flirted with a stop-motion version of the Addams Family that never came to be, so he’s clearly been thinking about this for years; instead, we got direction that might just as well be from Anonymous The CW Supernatural Series Director #2.

To get back to the point of adaptation, does all this really matter? Only in that there’s a reason the Addams Family has maintained its cultural impact for almost 90 years; of note, perhaps, to those who similarly think things have gone awry, the original New Yorker cartoons will enter the public domain in 2034. Wednesday presents less of the darkness in the character than that seen in the cartoons and movies, yes. But it also presents a lot less of the familial love and heart that infused prior iterations as well, showing weirdos that it is not just okay to be weird – it’s great, with the underlying message that you will find your people eventually, even if you’re into a little recreational murder and torture. Wednesday instead shows us the opposite – that the outliers need to join with everyone else to be truly happy. That’s neither creepy nor kooky nor mysterious and spooky; it’s just sad.

South Park Season 27 episode Got a Nut aired on Comedy Central last night, and as expected it doubled down on Trump political satire.

This week’s episode was delayed from last week following the high-profile season premiere. Neither Comedy Central nor Parker or Stone have explained the skip, but during their San Diego Comic-Con 2025 panel, which took place the day after the Trump-skewering premiere aired, Parker said they were unsure what the next episode would be, revealing the decision was “super stressful.”

(Parker and Stone create each episode of South Park week by week, which makes for a chaotic production, but topical shows.)

Now episode two is finally here, and we can see South Park is still very much up for its fight with the Trump administration.

Welcome to Mar-A-Lago! #SouthPark pic.twitter.com/MgIlIVL51j

— South Park (@SouthPark) August 7, 2025

Warning! Spoilers for South Park Season 27 Episode 2 ‘Got a Nut’ follow:

Got a Nut featured a satirical parody of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate as a Fantasy Island-inspired setting, and included portrayals of political figures such as Trump himself (again), Vice President JD Vance, and United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, weaving in themes of immigration enforcement and real-world controversies.

South Park w/ another Trump episode but got VP JD Vance as Tattoo from Fantasy Island! Im crying 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/v7Tufgt7lM

— Van (@vanman_1000) August 7, 2025

Holy shit, South Park had Kristi Noem and ICE raiding heaven, "Remember, only detain the Brown ones, if it's Brown it goes down."

These guys are NOT holding back 🔥 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ydlATGXLmC

— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) August 7, 2025

At one point Krypto the Superdog, fresh from starring in James Gunn's DCU film Superman, swoops in, but Noem kills the poor pooch (the clip below is very much NSFW).

OMG BRO WHY WOULD THEY KILL MY BOY KRYPTO 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭#SouthPark #southparkseason27 https://t.co/c8Y8QnNnMx pic.twitter.com/tjUXXoySfv

— Aimee🦊🦇| COMMs OPEN‼️ (@alesussy) August 7, 2025

The episode even included Eric Cartman as American right-wing political activist, author and media personality Charlie Kirk.

Eric Cartman as Charlie Kirk on South Park pic.twitter.com/2UkbApDE7b

— TOP KEK (@kekiustees) August 7, 2025

Ahead of this week’s episode, South Park hit the headlines once again after the official Twitter / X account of the United States Department of Homeland Security posted a still from the episode two trailer to promote the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s website.

The still used was taken from the trailer for this week’s episode, which includes a shot of Mr. Mackey looking nervous in the back of an ICE van. Mr. Mackay loses his job and desperately tries to find a new way to make a living. Encouraged by Trump, Mr. Mackay ends up working for ICE.

South Park then responded to troll Donald Trump, quote tweeting the post with the following: “Wait, so we ARE relevant? #eatabagofdicks”

That’s a direct response to the White House’s official statement in response to the South Park Season 27 premiere, which featured a scathing parody of President Trump.

“The Left’s hypocrisy truly has no end — for years they have come after South Park for what they labeled as ‘offense’ [sic] content, but suddenly they are praising the show,” Trump White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Rolling Stone.

“Just like the creators of South Park, the Left has no authentic or original content, which is why their popularity continues to hit record lows. This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention. President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country’s history — and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.”

The F.C.C. recently approved Skydance’s $8 billion merger with Paramount, which had needed Trump administration approval. Neither Parker nor Stone addressed the merger, which they had criticized for delaying South Park Season 27's release date, during the Comic-Con panel, nor did they respond to the White House's statement.

However, Parker and Stone have a big-money deal of their own: a reported $1.5 billion contract to make 50 episodes of South Park over five years for Paramount.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Battlefield 6 developer DICE has said it’s working on a "substantial" increase in server capacity for the Battlefield 6 Open Beta, after the early access launch was met with huge Steam concurrents and equally huge queues.

At time of this article’s publication, the Battlefield 6 open beta had over 300,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, making it the third most-played game on Valve’s platform behind only Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2. We don’t have concurrent player figures from Sony or Microsoft, so the open beta’s true concurrent figure will be much higher.

But not all those players are actually playing. Those with early access were met with huge queues (we've seen 250,000 in screenshots posted to social media) as the servers hit max capacity. In response, DICE issued a statement to say it was working to improve matters:

“The team is now working on a substantial increase in server capacity, which will reduce your time in the queue,” DICE said. “Thank you for your continued patience as we work to get as many of you into the game as soon as possible.

“We're looking forward to seeing you experience Battlefield 6, and we appreciate your patience!”

That statement followed a message in which DICE explained why it was using queues in the first place.

“We will use queues to protect the player experience but expect this impact to be minimal,” DICE insisted.

“You may encounter this during high peak moments, such as the start of servers going live. The team is working constantly to reduce any queue that takes place.”

Holy sh*t 🤣
More than 270.000 players are waiting in server queue!

If you manage to join the Open Beta, you better don't leave game. pic.twitter.com/x9lGfpyRAd

— Battlefield Bulletin (@BFBulletin) August 7, 2025

The suggestion here is that the open beta is peaking now as the early access kicks off, but the queues will ease. Given the open beta has gone live in early access form ahead of the U.S. waking up, it seems likely the player count will grow in the coming hours, and again when the open beta goes live for all this weekend.

We’ve got plenty more on Battlefield 6, including how it requires PC gamers to enable Secure Boot, how it was inspired by the much-loved Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and much more.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is getting the dinosaur-infested islands from the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies. You'll be able to zoom overhead among pterosaurs, and ferry guests back and forth between Isla Nublar and the mainland.

The add-on, Jurassic World: Archipelago, will launch for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 in around a month's time (the exact date and price is still TBA), with versions for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and Xbox launching soon after.

Developed by Flight Sim add-on maker Orbx Studios, the expansion will add the franchise's original Isla Nublar as well as the five islands of the Cinco Muertes Archipelago seen in subsequent films: Isla Sorna, Isla Matanceros, Isla Muerta, Isla Tacaño, and Isla Pena.

"Set just before the events of the 2015 Jurassic World film from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, the islands are captured at a moment when the park is operational but not everything is under control," a blurb for the add-on reads.

"Half a dozen airstrips and twice as many helipads await across the islands – some more familiar than others – but all interesting destinations of their own. For your flights to and from Costa Rica, we have included custom scenery at both Juan Santamaria Airport and Herradura Bay Marina. To accompany your free explorations, structured activities have you transport VIPs, take photographs on a guided tour, and practice your aviator’s skills in challenging locations."

A Hollywood Legend, now for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024🦖

Jurassic World: Archipelago is coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator!

Orbx, in collaboration with Universal Products & Experiences, is excited to reveal Jurassic World: Archipelago, an upcoming add-on for Microsoft… pic.twitter.com/4Vac2WaAwQ

— Orbx (@OrbxSystems) August 5, 2025

Dinosaur fans will be able to spot the apatosaurus, brachiosaurus, dimorphodon, gallimimus, mosasaurus, pteranodon, stegosaurus, tyrannosaurus rex and velociraptor on the islands themselves, which are also dotted with airstrips and helipads if you want to make a quick getaway.

If you have Flight Simulator 2024 installed, you will be able to buy Jurassic World: Archipelago directly from the in-game marketplace, or on PC via Orbx website. And if you're still playing Flight Simulator 2020, do not worry — there are plans to bring the expansions dinosaurs to Microsoft's older game at some point.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

If you’re trying to play the Battlefield 6 Open Beta on PC, you might have run into a problem: ‘Secure Boot is not enabled.’

You are not alone. PC gamers hoping to play DICE’s latest now open beta early access is live have no choice but to enable Secure Boot on their PC. And a cursory glance at social media, subreddits and IGN’s own comments suggest some are having trouble with it.

Sony has announced a new PlayStation 5 sales milestone of 80.3 million units shipped worldwide, as part of its latest financial results.

That total is accurate as of June 30, 2025, and represents an additional 2.5 million consoles shipped during the preceeding three months — an amount that's very slightly up on the same period last year.

It's a good-looking set of results for Sony, with PlayStation Network subscribers up seven million year-on-year, for a total of 123 million users.

Combined sales of PS5 and PS4 games hit 65.9 million copies for the past quarter — another rise year-on-year, by 12.3 million. Of these, 6.9 million units were of Sony's own first-party games, a figure that's up by 900,000 from the same time last year.

After five years on sale, the PS5 is now bearing down on the lifetime totals for Xbox 360 (~84 million) and PS3 (87 million) — though it still has some way to go until it reaches the heights of some other consoles.

Sony's PS2 remains the best-selling console of all time, with 160 million units sold. The original Nintendo Switch is close behind on a total of 153 million, with PS4 on 117 million and the original PlayStation on 102 million.

How many more consoles can Sony sell this generation? This largely depends on how long this generation has left, with one report suggesting the PS6 launch is pencilled in for 2027.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Every so often I stumble on a deals drop that makes my digital wallet flinch from across the room. This one's particularly nasty in the best way possible. Whether you’re itching for some nostalgia, crave chaotic co-op, or feel like diving into lore-rich epics, there’s something irresistible across all four platforms today.

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I'm celebrating the 23rd b-day of Alien Hominid, a Metal Slug-ish by the folks who would go on to craft Castle Crashers. Uploaded as a Flash browser game on the legendary multimedia website known as Newgrounds, Alien Hominid was one of the first notable indie darlings that really turned my head. It was tough as nails, great in two-player, and revitalised OG run 'n' gunning for a modern audience. Better yet, it sported a hilariously irreverent plot centred around a bunch of Fat Kids helping a homicidal E.T. stick it to the man/men in black, plus the KGB, to retrieve its ship. Worth a replay. Has aged remarkably well.

If you're looking to upgrade your gaming PC and want to keep your budget to under $1,500, then one deal stands out above all the rest. Walmart is offering the iBuypower Element Pro gaming PC equipped with an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU for just $1499 with free delivery. This was the best "high-end" gaming PC deal during Prime Day - better than anything I found on Amazon - and it's still the best deal I've seen so far at this price point. The Radeon RX 9070 XT is an outstanding graphics card that can run any game in 4K, and it's a better value than an equivalent Nvidia Blackwell GPU.

iBuypower Element Pro Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming PC $1499

Grow a Garden has quickly become one of the biggest games of 2025. The Roblox farming simulator first launched back in March and has seen rapid success thanks to various updates and events since then. The overwhelming interest in this Roblox game has shown no signs of slowing down, and the latest cooking-themed event has only fueled it further.

Now that the game has entered further into the mainstream, we're already starting to see unofficial merch become available. A third-party seller on Amazon called VatanFari has a variety of Grow a Garden plushies for sale based on the pets from the game. The product pages for these plushies claim to be "drawing inspiration" from the Grow a Garden universe.

Grow a Garden Plushies at Amazon

There are a ton of pets available in Grow a Garden, but only a select few are available in plushie form so far. There's the more traditional animals like a Chicken and a Racoon as well as rarer options such as the Disco Bee. Despite the lack of choices, however, the Chicken Zombie that was part of a limited-time giveaway is included here as well.

All of the Grow a Garden-inspired plushies are available in a 10-inch size and cost around $18. The exception is the Chicken Zombie one that sits at 12-inches thanks to the little jockey. It's also quite a bit more expensive at $30.

As far as I can tell, there isn't any "official" merch yet available for Grow a Garden. For now third-party sellers on sites like Amazon or Etsy appear to be ramping up offerings as the latest Roblox sensation continues to take root.

Is VatanFari a trustworthy seller?

One of the dangers of buying from third-party sellers on Amazon is that the products might not end up being of the highest quality. That being said, VatanFari appears to have a decent track record of reviews on some of its other offerings. And plushies are a pretty low-risk item to order from Amazon. All of the options available from this brand offer Amazon's 30-day refund/replacement window that you can take advantage of.

It's not just us common folks who were excited to see what the new Battlefield 6 has in store, a Battlefield 6 Reveal After Party attracted everyone from Marvel heroes to rockstars, and even a Love Island winner. The guest list included rapper Lupe Fiasco, actress Brie Larson and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and rap artist and producer Anderson Paak provided the DJ skills.

Guests could sit down and play Battlefield 6 while sipping on Battlefield-themed Red Bull cocktails and mocktails, which begs the question why all social gatherings don't offer similar set ups. Even the worst party can be bearable when you can sneak off for a bit of Mario Kart and a cup of something called Bowser's Brew that smells like peaches and gasoline.

Right now the anticipation for the new EA shooter is causing real world problems, with the Battlefield 6 Open Beta on Steam seeing tens of thousands of players trying to get in on the action. Pre-loading of the game went live at 8 AM. PT on August 4, letting fans download the Battlefield 6 open beta ahead of early access opening at 1am PT tomorrow, August 7 (here’s IGN’s guide on how to get in).

Battlefield 6 launches on October 10 and while you wait to that beta, you can see what we thought of it with our first hands on with the game.

Rachel Weber is the Senior Editorial Director of Games at IGN and an elder millennial. She's been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, and French Bulldogs. Those extra wrinkles on her face are thanks to going time blind and staying up too late finishing every sidequest in RPGs like Fallout and Witcher 3.

With both the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro, the visual experience on Sony’s console is incredible, especially when paired with the right TV for gaming. Playing games at 4K resolution and 60fps on the PS5 Pro is fantastic, but to really get in the game, you need the audio experience to match. You’ll do justice in a home theater setup with the proper 7.1 speakers or a great soundbar, but you probably don’t want to be rattling your walls at all times. That doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice sound quality – one of the most important PS5 accessories is a good gaming headset, and there are plenty out there.

Here, I’ve rounded up my recommendations for the best PS5 headsets you can buy now. I’ve also split my picks into several categories to make the choice easier for you since prices vary and each headset emphasizes different features and qualities that may matter more to you than others. For example, the Pulse Elite is one of the best picks for PS5 since it’s a Sony first-party product that features some nice platform integration. But if you’re willing to spend more for pure audio quality, the Audeze Maxwell is an easy choice while the newly launched BlackShark V3 Pro puts Razer back in the conversation for the best high-end option. And if you want to ditch having something clamping over your head, the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds elevate earbuds to the headset levels of performance.

TL;DR - These Are the Best PS5 Headsets

When it comes to our picks, you may notice some crossover in our best overall gaming headsets roundup since many of them have PS5-specific models that take advantage of the console’s specific features. There are also a few first-party options that make the most of the PS5 with features like Tempest 3D spatial audio and further customization that’s native to the platform. Regardless of what you choose to pick up, you’ll end up with something great, which I can attest to since I have first-hand experience with every product I recommend. Everything from sound quality and comfort to ease-of-use and feature set are all factors in deciding which headsets get my stamp of approval. Below, you can read my detailed explanations behind each pick to help you decide which one is right for you. As new headsets come out and I test more of them, I’ll update this list to make sure you’re looking at the top picks.

If you're looking for discounts on the best PS5 accessories, check out our picks for the best PS5 deals.

1. SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro

Best Overall PS5 Headset

2. PlayStation Pulse Elite

Best First-Party PS5 Headset

3. PlayStation Pulse 3D

Best PS5 Headset for 3D Audio

4. Audeze Maxwell

Best High-End PS5 Headset

5. Razer BlackShark V3 Pro

Best Noise-Canceling PS5 Headset

6. Turtle Beach Stealth 500

Best Budget PS5 Headset

7. HyperX Cloud III

Best Wired PS5 Headset

8. Turtle Beach Atlas Air

Best Open-Back PS5 Headset

9. SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds

Best PS5 Earbuds

PS5 Headsets FAQ

How do you determine sound quality on a gaming headset?

There are ways to extract audio data from a headset to get a look at how they handle various frequencies, like artificial ear and audio analyzing software, but that alone won’t be able to tell you what the actual audio experience is like. Admittedly, it can be quite abstract to have someone describe what games, music, or movies sound like. Paying attention to descriptors like distortion, drowning, cleanliness, or balance when talking about frequencies are common ways to explain the sound quality of a device, and at some point you need to trust the reviewer’s trained ear.

There’s also the factor of driver size, the actual hardware that delivers the audio. Generally, bigger drivers means better potential for cleaner and bolder sound, but again, that alone isn’t going to determine whether or not a headset sounds good. Quality can also come down to spatial or positional audio which gives the impression of sound effects having distance and direction – it’s important for competitive settings but can make for audio more suited for cinematic games.

As I talk about further down, the PS5 in particular has embraced 3D audio in a way other platforms have not. It may seem like a gimmick at first glance, but when done right, it can give you a genuinely immersive experience – not just for direction and distance, but also verticality in the sound design. This gives headsets like the Pulse Elite and Pulse 3D an advantage when picking out the best PS5 headset since 3D audio definitely affects how good games can sound.

What makes gaming headsets different from headphones?

Gaming headsets tend to pack additional features that support the actual gaming experience, some of which may be gimmicky, but many that I would call essential. Not everyone wants to have a standalone microphone, for example, but the key feature that separates a headset from headphones is a built-in microphone. While most headset mics are passable in terms of clarity that can suffice for in-game communication, some go the extra mile to provide better clarity or mitigate ambient noise spilling through.

Good gaming headsets are generally tuned to pick up on certain sound effects and have a more intimate sound profile since you’re an active participant in the experience rather than a passive observer (especially in competitive games). When it comes to wireless capabilities, most gaming headsets come with 2.4GHz USB dongles for the lowest latency possible – something that wireless headphones rarely include. As you’ll see in the next section, software suites for USB-based headsets (wireless or otherwise) have gotten sophisticated and sometimes offer a level of customization for specific gaming scenarios.

Should I go wired or wireless for a gaming headset?

Of course, it depends on your needs. On PC, I still gravitate towards wired headsets and headphones since I tend to prefer the sound profiles of a properly-tuned analog audio device (I also tend to forget about charging devices until it’s too late, but that’s a me-problem). However, battery life and latency of modern gaming headsets have come so far that you rarely, if ever, see them being issues on the latest releases. Good software suites and apps can also help you get more out of your headset by letting you customize EQ settings or swap sound profiles for certain games.

Wireless headsets are also sometimes capable of multi-device connectivity and simultaneous Bluetooth, which makes them versatile and opens them up to more use-cases (especially swapping to a mobile connection within seconds). Even though they tend to be more expensive, there’s a lot of upside to going with a wireless gaming headset, just be sure you know what you’ll be getting out of it.

On PS5, you're better going off with a wireless headset, though. Since 3.5mm analog wired audio devices have to go through the DualSense controller's, there's an upper limit to how good they can sound. Don't get it twisted, though – headsets and headphones can still sound great when fed through the DualSense, but it'll be diminishing returns when using audiophile-type gear. After all, the console experience is best when free of wires.

Is 3D audio worth it?

Made specifically for the PS5, Tempest 3D AudioTech to simulate 360-degree audio in supported PS5 games. That means you can tell the direction the audio is coming from, be it a helicopter overhead or enemy fire coming from whichever direction, it's an experiential marvel more so than an advantage. It’s similar to Windows Sonic on the Xbox Series X/S, but Sony has embraced it to greater extent and its implementation on the PS5 is a really neat perk. And to boot, plenty of the best PS5 headsets support Sony’s 3D audio, including the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P, Sony Pulse 3D, and PlayStation Pulse Elite wireless headset.

The Sony Pulse 3D does a good job showing off the PS5’s next-gen 3D audio tech, whereby noises and sounds are emulated to appear in a 360-degree space around your ears, and even expressing a greater level of verticality to positional sound in some instances. It’s straightforward to set up, comfortable, and surprisingly affordable for an official PlayStation headset, and a great choice if you want to see exactly what the PS5’s 3D audio can do.

Do you need a Bluetooth adapter for your PS5?

If you're hoping to connect wireless headphones and headsets to your PS5, you will need a compatible Bluetooth adapter. The PS5 does not currently support direct pairing with any Bluetooth headphones for audio output. However, when it comes to latency, you're best served using headsets with 2.4GHz dongles, which all our recommended headsets come with.

What is PlayStation Link?

PlayStation Link is Sony’s latest wireless connectivity standard that provides a lightning-fast connection, lossless audio, and ultra-low latency with easy switching between different devices. The PlayStation Portal is the only gaming device with the technology built-in. So, you’ll need the PS Link USB dongle when using the PS5, PS5 Slim, PS5 Pro, and PC. Still, at the moment, only a couple of Sony’s peripherals have this technology, including the PlayStation Pulse Elite wireless headset in this guide.

If you're looking for a high-capacity, high-output power bank with a slim footprint, then check out this deal from Baseus. Amazon is currently offering Amazon Prime members the Baseus Blade 20,000mAh 100W power bank for $39.99 shipped after you apply coupon code "NDC6X5B6". Unlike most high-capacity power banks that are shaped like a chunky bar, the Baseus Blade is much slimmer. It's powerful enough to charge just about every gaming handheld PC - including the newer Asus ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go S - at its fastest rate.

Baseus Blade 20,000mAh 100W Slim Power Bank for $39.99

We've been in the era of the iPhone 16 series, and while it has plenty of upgrades over past generations, the year-to-year changes haven't felt terribly exciting. With that relative stagnation, it’s natural to be curious about what other options are out there, and let me tell you, there are plenty. I’ve been testing smartphones for almost a decade, and I’ve seen my fair share of handsets that can compete with Apple’s iPhones, and quite a few bring new capabilities to the table well before Apple does – just look at folding phones. I’ve also tested iPhones, so I know and respect the qualities that have kept them at the forefront of the market for so long. That knowledge just makes it that much easier to see where an alternative feels right.

For a lot of people, going for an iPhone isn’t going to be the most sensible thing. Even the lowest-cost option in each new iPhone lineup tends to be on the more expensive side of the market – take the iPhone 16e, for example, which is meant to be the budget option and still starts at $599. The rest of the 16s are significantly more expensive, starting at $799. Thankfully, many of the best qualities of iPhones, short of iOS and the powerful Apple chipsets, are available elsewhere. There is no shortage of quality iPhone alternatives on the Android side of the market.

TL;DR – These Are the Best iPhone Alternatives in 2025:

By widening your scope, you can find next-level camera systems, designs that go toe-to-toe with Apple’s best, unique form factors that Apple has so far shied away from, more budget-friendly options, and niche models with an emphasis on gaming. Rather than just deciding which tier of iPhone is right for you, you can decide which blend of features, build quality, performance, and price fit your needs. Whether you’re looking for the best phone around that’s just not an iPhone or want a device that can match the photographic prowess Apple is known for, you’ll find a good alternative here.

1. OnePlus 13

Best All-Around iPhone Alternative

2. Google Pixel 9 Pro

Best Cameras in an iPhone Alternative

3. OnePlus 12R

Best Budget iPhone Alternative

4. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7

Best Foldable iPhone Alternative

5. RedMagic 10 Pro

Best iPhone Alternative for Gaming

What We’re Looking Forward to

Google’s Pixel 9 Pro may be an excellent iPhone alternative, but soon there’s almost guaranteed to be a better one. Google has planned the announcement of the Pixel 10 lineup for August 20. While plenty of leaks about the hardware are already floating around the internet, we won’t have to wait very long to find out what the reality about these new phones is.

What to Look for in an iPhone Alternative in 2025

While the iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand, more than half of the phones on the planet are Android devices. People seem to like Android’s open platform instead of Apple’s rigid walled garden. Android gives its users the opportunity to customize their experience with various themes, wallpapers, launchers, and apps.

Heck, there are more apps available to download through the Google Play Store than the Apple App Store. In fact, you’re not even limited to the Google Play Store for apps. You can use the Amazon Appstore, Samsung Galaxy Store, Aptoide, and others for different types of app utilities and experiences.

With more and more people flocking to Android, it may seem tough to pick a great iPhone alternative, but here's what to consider.

Phone Size and Design

One of the best things about iPhone alternatives is they come in various shapes and sizes. Apple is pretty set with making phones that are about 6 inches in size. However, you can find Android phones that are bigger at 7 inches or smaller at 4 inches. It’s really up to you on which size fits your hands better, or how much screen real estate you want.

In fact, there are a number of smartphones that are foldable like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip line. You can choose to have a small design in your pocket or bag, but then flip them open for a full-sized screen. Now that’s something you definitely can’t do with an iPhone.

Storage Capacity

For the most part, Android smartphones start out with 128GB of on-board storage, which is the same as the iPhone 16. However, there are many Android phones that are built-in with a microSD card expansion slot for even more storage up to an additional 1TB.

A general rule of thumb when it comes to Android is you can get more for less. This means you can get more storage options, memory, power, screen sizes, features, megapixels, and cameras than your average iPhone for less money.

Price

Speaking of money, Android smartphones are often less expensive than iPhones, with prices starting as low as $50 for bottom-of-the-barrel picks like the BLU C5L. There’s no shortage of cheap Android phones out there. However, you can get a good quality and wallet-friendly smartphone like the Poco X5 5G starting at $220. Compare this to Apple’s cheapest phone, now the iPhone 16e, which starts at $599.

On the high end, you can get a base Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 with 256GB of on-board storage for a whopping $1,999, and adding more storage can push that price even further. Additionally, if you consider that you can get more features with an Android phone than an iPhone, then you’re actually getting a better deal.

Overall, if you’re looking for an iPhone alternative, there are plenty of great Android smartphones out there for different types of people and use cases. For most people, however, the OnePlus 13 or Google Pixel 9 Pro are the best picks. Samsung has the premium design for speed and style, while Google has the better camera for sharper and more natural photos.

How Often Should You Upgrade Your Phone?

There are new Android phones coming out every year, but you don't need to be upgrading to a new phone every year. Now that smartphones have become a lot smarter, you really only need to upgrade ever two or three years to avoid falling behind in terms of processing power and battery life. All-in-all, if your current phone still works fine for everything you need it to do, there's no need to upgrade.

Mark Knapp is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything electronics and gaming hardware. He has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry with bylines at PCMag, Reviewed, CNET, and more. Find Mark on Twitter @Techn0Mark or BlueSky at @Techn0Mark.

More than four years after it's release, Guilty Gear Strive is still going strong, with perhaps its most prolific DLC character yet, Lucy from Cyberpunk, releasing on August 21 as the final part of Character Pass 4. But that's not the only exciting thing going on in the world of Guilty Gear. During the finals of Strive at Evo, there was a trailer announcing a mysterious new chapter called Guilty Gear Strive 2.00, with two silhouhettes of characters that clearly indicate that longtime favorites Robo-Ky and Jam Kuradoberi are going to be making their way into Strive's ever growing roster.

To get some details on Strive's future, I caught up with Ken Miyauchi at the show so I could pick his brain on all of these points and more.

[Editor's Note: This interview has been lightly edited for grammar and clarity]

So at finals for EVO 2025, you guys revealed Guilty Gear Strive 2.00. Can you tell us a little bit about what's going to be in that version?

Ken Miyauchi, Producer on Guilty Gear Strive: Yes, we just announced a teaser trailer of something showing the version 2.00. We are not really particularly explaining what's in 2.00, but there's a reason behind why we show the number 2.00. We want to provide new, more exciting content toward Guilty Gear Strive and I'm expecting to show more details in the near future.

We also saw two silhouettes of characters that are going to be coming to Guilty Gear Strive 2.00. It seems like it's going to be Jam and Robo-Ky. Can you talk a little bit about those two characters?

Miyauchi: So yeah, we are showing that we are still working on developing more additional characters. Of course, Lucy is coming out in August 21st, but we are still continuing developing more character updates and those are going to be the two characters that we are currently working on. So please stay tuned.

What can you tell us about Lucy and what her play style is going to be? Obviously she uses strings from Cyberpunk, but can you give us a little taste of what she is going to be like in Strive?

Miyauchi: Yeah, I think people are watching the trailers and trying to find out what she's doing and one of the biggest core mechanics that a lot of players might be very excited to see is her Quickhack move, which is really directly inspired from the Cyberpunk 2077 game mechanic. So we made it visually look very like the Cyberpunk 2077 Quickhack. And she has very, very unique moves that go along with that Quickhack. So the way she fights is going to be very unique, even compared to the entire Guilty Gear Strive cast. So yeah, I hope everyone enjoys her when she's out.

Another thing that's coming to Guilty Gear Strive is going to be the ranked mode. What can you tell us about how the ranked mode will be in Guilty Gear Strive and how it's going to be different from the regular tower format?

Miyauchi: So yeah, I explained this in our own website column, Developer's Backyard. So if you want to find out more details about the rules of how you earn points and how you get ranks and what kind of variety of ranks you have, you can check that out. And so it's pretty much a regular standard rank match system that we've been also doing, and I think all other fighting games were also doing. We have battle points that you climb up together whenever you win a match and depending on your battle points, you will have higher ranks, and you get to the top, which is the rank called Vanquisher. You'll get into a rating match, almost like a master rank kind of, a rating match. So people who are playing really competitively can keep grinding to compete in the rating ranking and try to aim to the top of the ranking. And there is of course rewards to it. So I hope everyone who plays regularly will enjoy playing this mode.

In Ranked Match we also have several features that people would be excited. I mean, I hope they appreciate is that we also have the Wi-Fi indicator and also if there's a bad ping match-up goals, you will be able to vote a no contest. So those kinds of features will also be included. So I hope you find out how you can use those features.

So you're also looking to make adjustments to things like RISC, Wild Assault, and I believe Guard Crush is another thing. Can you tell us a little bit about specifically what kind of changes you're looking to make about those mechanics?

Miyauchi: So yeah, we also announced that we are working on the battle balance patch and that's also coming out along with the Lucy character update. And so we are kind of trying to see the game balance and trying to incorporate a lot of player's feedback regarding how Guilty Gear Strive is currently playing. And we think there needs to be some tone downs on several, how do I say… the game mechanics, general game mechanics, the tools that everyone has access to.

And so there are lots of toning downs, but at the same time we also want to focus on the character uniqueness and making sure that characters can play how they would like to be played. And I think we had a lot of feedback from players that the current version of Guilty Gear Strive is in favor of those characters who have more access to those game mechanics. So not too much relying into the game mechanics and that's the direction of how we are balancing out for this patch.

So Arc System Works recently announced Marvel Tokon, and I think a lot of people are wondering, is there anyone from the Strive team that moved over to Marvel Tokon, or what is Strive's relationship with that game?

Miyauchi: Well, I wish I can say anything about Marvel Tokon, but unfortunately I don't have a right to, and I honestly don't know much about Marvel Tokon because that's really a high-end secure project that's also internally in Arc System Works.

So no knowledge of Strive developers working on Marvel Tokon then?

Miyauchi: Well, we do have, it's a small company, so we do have a chat or discussion going on between teams. But yeah, that's everything that I can say.

Fair enough. So with each new update of Guilty Gear Strive, it feels like you're kind of going down a list and just kind of knocking off different features from 3v3 to now ranked mode. Are there any other kind of features that you want to add to Strive that are still on the list?

Miyauchi: So we have a lot of things that we would like to do, which is also something that a lot of players has been asking for and I can't share any details about it for now, but I'm hoping if I will be able to show that off in the next version of 2.00.

Do you ever see Guilty Gear changing direction from being a fighting game series or even just a spin-off to do something other than fighting games? Obviously Guilty Gear 2: Overture was an action adventure. Is there any kind of future for Guilty Gear that's not a 2D fighter, do you think?

Miyauchi: Well, I don't have any projected plan or anything that I can share for now, but as a producer I'm always interested to expand Guilty Gear as an IP to open to different genres so that people who are not fighting games would also get into the IP. So yeah, if I have a chance I would like to try on some different kind of genre. But yeah, I don't have anything to share right now.

Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit

King of the Hill Season 14 is obscenely, breathtakingly good. Like the original series, it feels both timeless and for-the-moment, fusing brilliant humor and earthy wisdom with keen social commentary and characters who feel as lived-in and likable as ripe for growth. The revival capitalizes on its soft reset—it picks up several years after the series finale — and doubles down on what creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, along with new showrunner Saladin Patterson, excel at: extending grace and projecting their hopes for the ignorant and hard-to-reach without forfeiting its sense of humor and moral clarity.

At its core, King of the Hill has always been about learning to adjust to a world that's becoming increasingly unrecognizable. Disengaging from our world for any amount of time —whether it's several days, several months, or in the Hills' case, several years in a Saudi Arabian compound—can feel like a physical departure. Indeed, upon returning to Arlen, Hank and Peggy (Judge and Kathy Najimy, reprising their respective roles) hardly recognize the place. Dale (Toby Huss, replacing the late Johnny Hardwick) became mayor for 36 hours before denying the results of his own election—-easily one of the revival’s funniest developments. Then there’s Arlen as a physical, mutable locale. U-turns are suddenly illegal on the streets outside Hank’s neighborhood alley. Restaurant bathroom signage blurs gender lines. Everything is upside-down, and Hank wants nothing to do with it.

The people, too, are endlessly confusing for Hank, and this is where the show really digs in and has fun. “I want the piece that was assigned meat at birth,” he says of Peggy’s lasagna, which Bobby’s new partner Willow requested be half-vegetarian. Society is shifting faster than even Hank can judge it, meaning he can only flounder as he realizes beer isn’t beer anymore, they/them pronouns are here to stay, and neighborhood flex-posts are ubiquitous. It’s through these struggles that the showrunners weave their remarks on the status quo, and it’s this commentary—as tactful and keen as it ever was during the original run, with heart and patience to spare— that helps King of the Hill reclaim its place among the smartest, most endearing animated sitcoms of all time.

Like nearly every successful story, King of the Hill wouldn't be half the cultural behemoth it is without its characters, and that holds truer than ever here. Dale, in all his hilarious and problematic glory, commands every scene he's in, his rampant paranoia teeing up some of the season's best moments and reminding us just how easy it is to both love and hate him. Early on, he decides to “help” Hank win a home-brewing contest against Bobby by kidnapping one of the judge's dogs and positioning Hank as the poor pup's savior. Sure, Huss can't quite capture the nasally droning that characterized Hardwick's tenure in the role, but he gets such absurd material throughout that the change isn't as distracting as it could have been.

Najimy is positively ablaze here. Peggy remains a well-meaning scourge to linguists and non-English speakers alike, summarily butchering pronunciations and rejecting the idea that she might have it all wrong, and it all lands because Najimy doesn't miss one beat.

Then there's Bobby, who's written and performed so perfectly---and so closely to his 12-year-old self--- that it's difficult not to have to blink away grainy flashes of his antics as a youngster. Adlon's role was a highlight of King of the Hill, and this new season only reinforces the importance of her reprisal. Bobby’s voice hasn’t changed one bit, and neither has his tendency to think out loud and rattle off hilariously random comments. And yet, he still looks and behaves like a grown-up, running the kitchen at a German-Japanese fusion restaurant in Dallas and displaying a work ethic that makes his dad proud. Predictably, though, adulthood has further complicated Bobby’s dynamic with Hank, who remains ideologically shut-in while his son navigates the world with an open mind and heart.

Crucially, —and this has always been important in keeping them likable —the Hills are often as quick to accept as they are to judge. Hank and Peggy have always slyly modeled how to be set in your ways without being awful to other people, which has always been one of King of the Hill’s most resonant takeaways. Bobby’s girlfriend Willow is an especially exquisite challenge for Hank, who’s taken aback by her ferocity, bluntness, and complete unwillingness to fit into the box he’s assigned her. She offends just about every one of his five senses, and every moment they spend together is quality time for Willow and absolute hell for Hank. True to his ways, though, he doesn’t treat her poorly. He finds common ground with her and, in doing so, finds that paradigms are elastic if you’d like them to be.

This increased emphasis on heart, on doing right by people even if you don’t understand them, takes King of the Hill’s 14th season from satisfying revival to astounding masterpiece. The beloved animated sitcom is as good as it’s ever been, and if we’re lucky, will mark the beginning of a new golden age for the Hill family.

Hayden Mears is an entertainment journalist who enjoys (you guessed it) entertainment. He also likes fitness boxing and writing bios in the third person.

If you're looking to expand your local storage by a significant amount, the back to school season offers a great opportunity. I've posted a few deals on high-capacity local storage recently, but this is probably the best deal yet. For a limited time, Best Buy is offering a massive Seagate Expansion 26TB USB 3.0 Desktop Hard Drive for $249.99 shipped, which averages out to $9.62 per TB. This is the first time I've seen a drive priced at under $10 per TB this year.

Seagate 26TB External Hard Drive for $249.99

World of Warcraft just dropped a new major patch, the big kind that adds a new area, new quests, dungeons, a delve, a raid, loads of story, and much more. And while it's normal to have a few bugs any time new content comes out, 11.2 seems to be riddled with weirder problems than usual...including a goofy bug that's turning some players' banks German.

The German bug in particular has been reported by several players on English clients, not on EU servers. It's not game-breaking by any stretch - just odd. It changes the player's bank tabs to German language. Everything else is unaffected. Funnily enough, some players in other countries and languages are reporting the same bug, but with different languages, such as this German player who says their tabs are in French, and this person playing on the English client from Poland who has French tabs, while their wife's are German.

That's not the only bug players are facing, though. I've experienced several myself just questing in the new zone, K'aresh, with quests not completing, disappearing from the questlog mysteriously, and certain interactable objects needing the game fully reloaded in order to be used. I also experienced a lot of disconnects last night, and I'm not the only one. Some people are having trouble logging in at all.

Others are running into weirder bugs. This person reports that the game is trying to charge them 500,000 gold just to visit the Darkmoon Faire, which is...a little high. Another person found a bug (which admittedly may be related to a downloaded mod) where their bags have somehow been increased to hold 98 items apiece - far more than any bag currently in the game actually allows.

At the moment, it's difficult to say if Ghosts of K'aresh is exceptionally buggy compared to other patch releases, or if it just feels bad in the moment because we're all eager to play as much as possible as fast as possible. Most likely, all of these issues will be fixed within a few days, or at minimum by next Tuesday's weekly game update.

But in the meantime, if you want to use your bank, you might need to brush up on your German. Viel Glück!

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Lenovo just listed an excellent deal on a 2025 gaming laptop as part of its Back to School sale. Right now you can get a Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 10 gaming laptop, equipped with an OLED display and RTX 5070 GPU, for just $1,337.99 after you apply two coupon codes "BUYMORE4SCHOOL" and "EXTRAFIVE". That's a total of $587.50 in savings. The Legion 5 is Lenovo's mid-range lineup in between the budget LOQ and high-end Legion 5 Pro and offers the best value for your dollar.

Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 10 RTX 5070 Gaming Laptop for $1,338